Comatose
by Dr. Thrav
Summary: When Ellis is separated from the others, he backtracks- all the way back to Zoey. Nick and Coach try to make their way back to Ellis, and Rochelle... Well, Rochelle doesn't make it anywhere.
1. Chapter 1

"Coach? Ro? Nick?" No response came.

"Where the hell are ya'll?" Ellis could hear the fear in his voice.

The group had become separated when they stopped to find some gas to refill Jimmy Gibbs' stockcar. Somehow Rochelle had managed to alert a witch and a tank at the same time. Coach tried to help Rochelle, but was knocked away from her by the tank. Nick went to help Coach, as the witch clawed Rochelle to death. Ellis couldn't do anything. They had long since run out of ammo, and even Ellis knew he couldn't take on a witch AND a tank with a baseball bat. So he ran.

When he was sure the tank wasn't chasing him anymore, Ellis started looking for Nick and Coach, but had no luck.

"Well, if I was Nick, I'd have gotten pissed at Coach. If I was Coach, I'd probably suggest going back the way we'd came." And so Ellis found an abandoned car and headed back the way they had came, keeping an eye out for Nick and Coach as he drove.

The car he snatched had an impressive sound system, and if that wasn't enough, all 4 of the Midnight Rider's albums were conveniently found on the dashboard.

"Well alright! This is almost as cool as Jimmy Gibbs' ride!" Ellis said as he played "Midnight Ride."

An hour passed before he made it back to the bridge. Ellis was sure Louis, Francis, and Zoey would help him. He hadn't really wanted to leave Zoey in the first place.

"Louis? Francis? Zoey!" Again, no response came from any of Ellis' friends. Ellis looked over the bridge's railing, just in time to see a boat set sail.

"LOUIS! FRANCIS! ZOEY!" Ellis screamed as he jumped up and down waving his arms. "GUYS! I NEED YOUR HELP!"

* * *

"Louis, did you hear that?" Zoey snapped out of her daze. She thought she had heard Ellis calling her name... but no, that wasn't not possible. Ellis left with his friends hours ago. He was long gone- she'd probably never see him again.

"Yeah, I did, Zoey. Someone's on the bridge!" He said, pointing. Zoey squinted, it was hard to see, the sun was setting. Sure enough, when she looked closer, she saw him, jumping up and down in his blue hat and Bull Shifters shirt.

"FRANCIS! Turn the boat around, the others came back!" Louis said.

"No." Came the reply. Louis and Zoey looked at each other, before walking towards the wheel.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Zoey asked, slightly angered by his single word response.

"I mean, 'No, I'm not turning the boat around'." Francis replied.

"C'mon Francis, you aren't THAT lazy." Louis said.

"I ain't lazy. And I ain't turnin' the boat around. I'm going to my island, and you're both coming with me." He paused. "We look after our own. That's what the old man used to say. We ain't going back for the others. We offered them the chance to come with us, and they said no. They're on their own now."

"Francis..." Zoey began, but she stopped herself. She heard it again. She strained her ears. "Guys! I need your help!" Came from the distance.

"You hear that Francis? If that were you, I'd turn the damn boat around." Zoey was getting angry again.

"I know you would. We look after our own." Francis pointed to the bridge. "HE isn't our own."

"You're talking the same shit Bill was, and look what happened to him. He's dead." She paused. "Francis, turn the boat around." She looked back at the bridge, and a tear fell from her face.

"...Please."

* * *

They were getting far from shore, and Ellis was getting tired of jumping. He sat down, and leaned against the railing.

"I remember the time Keith and me tried to sail one of those things. I was below deck, checkin' out all the cool shit that was down there, when all of a sudden I heard this commotion comin' from above me. So I went up the stairs to see what the matter was. Turns out, Keith had found the flare gun. Somehow or another, he shot the flare down his pantleg. Had third degree burns over 90% of the body. You'd think it's have only gotten him waist down, but when his pants caught fire, it spread to his shirt before he jumped overboard. I was trying to help him, but I was laughing to hard to walk, much less push him over the side of the boat."

Ellis missed Keith. All the wacky adventures they had, he missed them. The good ol' days, before the zombies came and ruined everything.

"I can't remember the last time I got to finish a story about me an' Keith. Somebody usually cuts me off before I can finish it..."

"Ellis!"

"I can almost hear him sayin' my name again."

"ELLIS!"

"Wait a minute... Keith wasn't a girl." Ellis stood up, and looked over the railing he had been sitting against. Zoey, Louis and Francis were back. Ellis smiled. Zoey looked excited.


	2. Chapter 2

"Damnit, Coach, can't you go any faster?" Nick had been walking for hours. Hours that seemed longer than normal hours, and it didn't help that Coach was taking his sweet time, either. Nick never thought he'd say it, but he was missing Ellis and Rochelle both. Any cover without a gimp leg would be nice right now.

"Nick, you can run your ass wherever you want. I'll be fine on my own. If you wanna stick with me, I ain't gonna argue. But I'm 'bout through with your bitching. Next time a tank knocks your ass into a brick wall, we can have a race and see who's faster. In the mean time, shut your pie hole."

Nick wasn't going anywhere without Coach, and Coach knew it. Not with all the Smokers, Hunters, Chargers, and Jockeys around. No, their only hope was to stick together.

"Remind me why we can't take the road back to the bridge?" Nick asked.

"Because, remember all those zombies we pissed off driving by? We can't drive by them now, and we're almost outta ammo." Coach was right. They were lucky to have found the two Uzi clips and half empty box of shotgun shells they had. They weren't in the zombie killing business anymore. Now, they were in the sneaking past zombie business.

And they did quite well, too. They made it all the way to a hospital before they ever had to shoot. Then, things went bad real fast. The first shot attracted 5 more zombies, the second and third shots attracted hordes of them. They came out of the hospital windows, out of the grocery store down the street, out of the houses up and down the lane. As well as Nick and Coach had been conserving ammo, they didn't have enough. The zombies were closing in from all directions, their only means of escape was into the hospital.

"Get in there and see if the elevators still work. I'll barricade the doors." Nick said to Coach. Coach speed-limped to the elevators, while Nick slid chairs, tables, and anything else from the waiting area he could find.

*_Ding_*

"Elevator works, and it was already on the ground floor. C'mon, Nick!" Coach yelled from the elevator doors. Nick ran over and joined Coach in the elevator.

"Where to?" Coach asked.

"Take us all the way up, if we're lucky, we can hide on the roof while things settle down outside." Nick leaned against the side of the elevator..

Coach punched the 7 button. They'd have to find a staircase to the roof once they reached the 7th floor. Coach held his shotgun like a bat, Nick still had 20 bullets in his Uzi. The elevator soon arrived at the 7th floor. They looked down the hallway. No zombies in sight.

"Maybe we're lucky, for once." Nick said as he started down the hallway, checking in any open rooms on the way.

"Hey Nick, you hear that?" Coach asked. They stopped walking. "Shit! Do you SMELL that?"

"Yeah, I do." A crashing was coming from one of the rooms down the hall, and a burnt smell was, too.

"OW! HOLEE SHIT! Don't think I did that right! OWW!" A man in blue shirt and pants, that appeared to be one fire, came busting out of the room. He ran down the hallway and into the bathroom, leaving Nick and Coach with mildly amused and somewhat concerned expressions on their faces.

They hurried past the room, noticing a fire in it, but continued to the bathrooms, hoping that they weren't about to run into a talking zombie.

"Hello? Everything alright in there?" Coach said, opening the men's room door.

"Who's there? You a zombie?" Came the response.

"We aren't zombies, you dumbass." Nick said walking in. The man was dripping wet, he appeared to have just climbed out of a toilet. His pants were burnt, but he seemed alright otherwise.

"Naw, you ain't zombies fer sure. I ain't never seen zombie that looked like you before. What's your names?" The man asked.

"I'm Coach, and that's Nick." Coach replied. "What's yours?"

"My name? You can call me Keith." The man replied.

Nick's eyes got wide. "Son of a BITCH!"


	3. Chapter 3

"...and then the horse kicked Keith right in the soft spot, and ran off. I've always liked horses, so did Keith, which just added insult to injury I suppose. There wasn't really much I could do for him, so I just doubled over and laughed my ass off while he rolled around on the ground." Ellis finished his story. They were all on the boat together, but they hadn't set out yet, they were still at the docks.

"Haha, sounds like you and Keith had some fun times together." Zoey said.

"Sounds like Keith would make good vampire bait." Francis commented.

"You two must've been real close. I mean, I've never tried to milk a horse with MY best friend." Louis said. "Any idea where he is now?"

Ellis was silent for a moment.

"Ellis..." Zoey started, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"He was in the hospital last I heard." Ellis stood up and walked to the side of the boat. "A month ago, we got into some messed up shit. It was just before the infection reached us." He stopped.

"Hey man, you don't have to tell us, if you don't wanna." Louis said, walking over to stand beside him. "We'll all understand, if you don't."

"Naw, I've kinda been wanting to talk about it for a while. I used to try to bring it up with Nick and Coach and Rochelle, they always made me stop talking about him before I could get to it. They never did ask about him. "

"Go ahead, Ellis. We want to hear about him." Zoey said, as she walked over and leaned on the railing beside him.

"So, I was a mechanic. Someone brought in a lamborghini to get the tires replaced. Me and Keith were gonna joyride in it a bit, I'd never drove a lamborghini before. Anyway, Keith dropped by before I changed the tires on it, we were gonna take it out, get it a little dirty, and then wash it and put the tires on. I had to take a leak, and when I came back, Keith was gone and so was the car. I didn't find out 'til later that day, he lost control and crashed into an oncoming vehicle. The tires... they didn't have any traction. His brakes wouldn't stop him. I should have changed the tires before he came by..." Ellis' voice cracked.

"Sounds like my kind of guy!" Francis said.

"Francis!" Zoey smacked him. "Ellis.. I'm sorry... Is he..? I mean, did he...?"

"Make it? Yeah. They flew him to a hospital. I dunno which one. I didn't get to visit him before the infection hit. Ain't no way he's a zombie though. Keith was tougher than nails. I've seen him take over 20 kicks to the groin and his voice is only a few octaves higher than it used to be."

"Maybe he's still out there. Maybe he's fighting the zombies just like us. Maybe we'll run into him sometime. I mean, you did meet us, and we came all the way from Pennsylvania." Zoey said, putting an arm around him.

"Maybe we'll run into him? What makes you think he'd be on the island you're heading to?" Ellis replied.

"Nothing, but we have to go find your friends Nick and Coach first. Isn't that what you came to us for?"

Ellis didn't respond. He had almost forgotten about Coach and Nick, being in Zoey's company. Honestly, he had come back to be with her.

"Well, actually..." He began.

"NO! No way in HELL am I getting off this boat. This boat cost us BILL and I ain't givin' it up just to find some hillbilly's friends." Francis said.

"Fine, Francis. You can stay with the boat. I'm helping Ellis. Louis?" Zoey grabbed a hunting rifle and some clips for it before jumping onto the dock. Louis grabbed an M16 and a few clips for it and joined her. Ellis picked up an AK-47 and pocketed several clips for it, waved goodbye to Francis, and jumped up next to Zoey and Louis. The three started walking, leaving Francis with his mouth wide open.

"Hey guys!" The three stopped. Francis grabbed an auto-shotgun and abandoned the ship. "You don't honestly think you'll get anywhere without me, do you?"

* * *

"Your name's Keith?" Coach asked.

"Yeah. And yours is Coach? That's pretty interesting, I've never met anyone named Coach before.

"Well, Coach isn't actually my real name, but we had a friend-"

"Who we got separated from." Nick finished Coach's sentence. If this was the same Keith Ellis talked about, and if Keith talked half as much about Ellis as Ellis did about Keith, he did not want to get Keith started. "You haven't seen anyone around here, have you?"

"Naw, I ain't seen nothin' but zombies in hospital gowns for a month. Ain't got nuttin' but my fryin' pan to fend 'em off with, either." Keith replied. "Every time I try to take the elevator down it attracts a horde and I have to keep pushin' the 'close doors' button 'til they go away."

"You certainly have a good sized horde down there. Too many for a frying pan, that's for sure." Nick said. "By the way, how the hell did you set yourself on fire?"

"Ah, well you see, I was wantin' to roast some marshmallows I found in the cafeteria, so I needed a fire. And I remembered this one time when me and my buddy Ellis microwaved some tinfoil and set his mama's kitchen on fire. I tried to put it out, but ended up getting third degree burns on 90% of my body."

_Oh shit._ Nick thought.

"Anyway, I found some tin foil in the cafeteria too, so I brought it up here because I remembered there was a microwave in my room. I got it lit up alright, but I didn't want to burn myself so I tried grabbin' it with my pant leg... which ended up with me running to the bathroom to shove my leg in the toilet."

"So you ARE Ellis' Keith!" Coach said.

"Whoa, wait a minute, Ellis was just my friend. A really good friend, but that's all we were."

"No, Keith, we know Ellis too. He's always telling stories about all the crazy shit you two did." Coach said as Nick proceeded to beat his head against the wall. Keith failed to notice, and Coach didn't bother trying to stop him.

"Really? You know Ellis too? Well, it's a small world!' Keith said, jumping up. "So... If you know Ellis... where is he?"

"We got separated." Coach said, looking down. "We're headed back to a place where we met some other survivors, hoping that's where he went. I have a pretty good feeling he did, 'cause he had a bit of a crush on the girl we met."

"Oh yeah? What happened to Rachel?" Keith asked.

"Who? I don't think Ellis ever mentioned a Rachel." Coach replied.

"Well, they were engaged last I heard." Keith said. "And... uh... is your friend alright?"

Nick slumped to the floor, finally knocking himself out.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, where do we look first?" Francis asked.

"I think we should leave a note or something, in case they come back this way." Ellis said.

"Good idea, man. We got some stuff on the boat, I'll go do that real quick." Louis ran back to the boat.

He returned a few minutes later. "I left a note on the deck, under the flare gun telling them to fire it if they come back before we do."

"Alright, now what?" Francis asked.

"Well, I don't know where else they would go unless they are on their way back here. I don't suppose... we could go check out the local hospital?" Ellis asked.

"We can, but I have no idea where it's at." Zoey replied.

"I think I remember... everything looks so different now, though." Ellis said. "I left a car over by the bridge, we can take it. The hospital isn't on the main road, it's down a back road, oddly enough. Not very tall either."

The group of four piled into the car Ellis had parked by the bridge, and started looking for the hospital.

* * *

Coach decided to douse the fire before moving Nick into the room Keith had ran out of earlier..

"Ya know, this hospital ain't nearly as bad as that time I slept in a graveyard for like,a whole year. A ghost even tried to attack me once... I think." Keith was telling Coach.

"Surprisingly enough, Ellis already told me that story. He also mentioned something about you wrestling alligators?" Coach replied.

"Yeah, them fellers on TV make it look way easier than it really is, that's fer sure." Keith said, showing Coach some very burnt bite marks on his arm.

The two of them were sitting in the room, Nick was lying on the floor across from them.

"He have seizures like that often?" Keith asked.

"Occasionally. Kinda funny, what triggers it." Coach replied.

"Uhh." Nick sat up.

"Hey Keith, would you mind leavin' me and Nick alone for a few minutes? I need to talk to him, make sure he's okay." Coach asked, as he walked over to Nick and sat down.

"Yeah, no problem. Just holler out the door if ya need me." Keith said as he trotted out the door.

"Nick, man, that ain't right. I know ya don't like him, but he seems to be immune. You need to pull yourself together and we need to get the hell out of this hospital and find Ellis."

"Well, I do want to get away from this lame ass zombie hospital. And quick." Nick got up, rubbed his eyes and walked out the door. "Hey, Keith! C'mere!"

"Yeah, Nick?" Keith came out of the room across the hall.

"Me and Coach are gonna go find Ellis, and maybe some other survivors too, can you shoot a gun? Or at least swing that frying pan fast enough to keep from being eaten?" Nick gritted his teeth.

"You bet I can!When are you plannin' on leaving?" He asked.

"First thing in the morning." Nick replied. "Get anything you want to take with you together and get a good night of sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be rough."

* * *

"I think we should stop for the night." Louis suggested. The sun had gone down, the darkness was getting remarkably... darker. Louis pointed to a room that would make a suitable safe room.

Everyone else agreed, so they stopped the car and piled into the safe room. It didn't take long before Francis and Louis both started snoring, Ellis barely noticed though. He was thinking about someone... Not Keith, someone else he missed.

"Ellis? Are you alright?" Zoey asked, sitting down next to him.

"Yeah... I've just been thinking, about some stuff. Stuff that's kinda hard to think about, ya know?"

"I'm sorry, I don't. Want to talk about it?" Zoey said, laying her hand on his.

"My girlfriend... Rachel. We got engaged just before the infection hit..."

* * *

_"Ellis? Ellis, what's happening to me?" Rachel said, running into his arms. He looked into her eyes, he could see them changing. Her hazel eyes were turning a golden yellow. He started crying._

_"You're... infected, Rachel." He held her tight._

_"I'm... a zombie?" She said, her voice quivering._

_"You're changing... But Rachel," Ellis looked into her eyes, "But I still love you." They cried together, while they laid on their bed. _

"_I'm sorry, Ellis. I don't want to hurt you." She said to him._

_Since the infection had broke out, Ellis had been keeping a magnum on his nightstand. Rachel reached over, grabbed the gun, put it to her head and pulled the trigger before Ellis even knew what had happened._

_"RACHEL!"_

* * *

"That's... awful. I'm sorry, Ellis." Zoey said. She didn't know what to say or do now. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe he didn't feel the same way about her as she did about him.

"I-" His voice cracked. He couldn't talk about it. He shut his eyes.

"I understand." Zoey said, laying down next to him, putting her arm around him. Ellis smiled through the tears now streaming from his face, and put his arm around her, too.


	5. Chapter 5

"Damn, Keith. You move pretty fast to have had your ass on fire yesterday." Coach said, as he limped behind Nick and Keith.

"You get used to it after the first dozen or so times. There was this one time, when I tried to deep fry a turkey-" Keith replied.

"We KNOW. Third degree burns on 90% of your body." Nick said.

"...How long have you known Ellis?" Keith asked.

"Boy, we've known Ellis long enough to know you've seen more burns than your average toaster has." Coach said, catching up with the two.

"So, he's told you I'm the MASTER OF THE FLAMES?" Keith yelled as he jumped on top of a car, pulled out a molotov and posed. Unfortunately, the car had an alarm on it.

"ELLIS, YOU DUMBASS!" Nick yelled before ducking into an alley, hiding behind a trashcan. Coach followed, leaving Keith to deal with the horde of zombies once again pouring out of the buildings along the street..

_He's a lot like Ellis... Too much like Ellis._ Nick thought. _If I live through this, I can deal with him, but I don't know if I can deal with both of them... together. That is, if we ever even find Ellis again. _He was almost worried about Ellis, but he heard Keith scream before he had time to think anymore about it.

"DIE, DIE, MY DALRLIN'S, DIE, DIE!" They heard Keith scream. There was the sound of shattering glass, and the zombies began screaming. Nick peeked around the trashcan just as Keith flew by, who proceeded to trip and roll down the alley, ultimately putting his once again flaming pants out.

"Son, you just alerted every zombie within a mile of us!" Coach said.

"Well yeah, but I also set them all on fire, too." Keith said, smoldering a small patch of fabric that was still flaming.

"Good point, now let's get our asses out of here before more come." Nick said, heading towards the other end of the alley. Before he got there, however, a door opened between him and the exit.

"Hello? Is there anyone out there?"

"Who's there?" Nick walked around the door. Behind it, stood a man, in a long white coat.

"I... I'm a doctor." He looked at Nick. "Are you immune? Are there others with you?" Coach and Keith came around the corner. "Come in, all of you. We may be able to help each other." Nick was hesitant, but then he saw that the door had OVER 9000 locks on it, and followed the doctor into the building. Coach and Keith followed without question.


	6. Chapter 6

"You two lovebirds ready to head out?" Francis asked. Zoey punched him in his side. "OWW! What the hell was that for!"

"My name is Zoey. His is Ellis. Use them." She said as she picked up her hunting rifle and walked towards the exit. Ellis followed and the two went outside.

"Francis, lay off of them for a while, geez." Louis said, walking over to where Francis was standing. "Zoey's still pretty torn up about Bill... and, well, I heard Ellis last night... He lost someone too. Give them a break, man."

Francis mumbled something, picked up his shotgun, and followed Louis out after the others. The four survivors piled into the car and began a long, quiet, and somewhat awkward drive towards the local hospital.

* * *

Nick, Coach, and Keith had spent the night in the doctor's house, they had been tired, and hadn't asked many questions. Now that it was morning, and everyone was well rested, it was time to fire off a few rounds of questions.

"So, what's your name, doc?" Nick asked.

"Of all the questions. This is a freaking zombie apocalypse, and you're main concern is finding out what my name is?" He paused. Nobody said anything. "Well, my name's not important. You can call me what you've already called me. Doc." Doc said.

"You expect us to trust you, and you won't even give us your name?" Nick asked.

"I never told you to trust me. Although, I know you do, because you spent the night here. Besides, has Coach ever told you his name?" Doc said without missing a beat.

"He..." Nick's voice trailed off.

_He's got a point... a couple points actually. And he sure as hell knows how to lock a door._

"So Doc, you immune?" Coach asked.

"Most likely. I mean, you'd have already infected me if I weren't." The doctor turned around and started looking through some cabinets.

"Are you blind? We're not infected. Obviously." Nick said.

"Actually, you are infected. You just don't show symptoms. It's not that the virus can't get into you, it's just that, once it's in you, it doesn't affect you. You're immune system has you locked up like that door over there. However, you transmit the disease everywhere you go." The doctor continued sorting through his cabinet.

Coach and Nick were taken aback. Keith seemed to be too busy plucking a hair from his arm to have heard what the doctor had said.

"What are you saying, Doc? That we've been making zombies everywhere we go?" Coach asked.

"Indeed. Let's see... Keith, I want you to take this." The doctor pulled a needle out of the cabinet and showed him.

"What's it do? Make me all hyper and shit?" Keith said, looking at it.

"No, this is a vaccination. You said you've been holed up in the hospital since the infection broke out? We don't want to take any chances." He handed the needle to Keith, then turned to the others. "I'd give you guys some, but it sounds like you've been through enough zombies to tell you're quite immune, and I want to save as much of this as possible. I won't be able to make anymore anytime soon."

"This is a cure?" Keith asked, inserting the needle into his arm.

"No, not a cure, just a means to prevent the disease from affecting you. Like a man made immunity to the virus. Once you're infected, there's not much good it will do you." The doctor said, pulling out a briefcase and a magnum revolver from the cabinet. "Everyone ready? We need to get going."

"Going where? We didn't tell you where we were going." Nick said, looking at the doctor.

"Well you're going somewhere, and anywhere is better than this hell hole. I want to come with you, and help any survivors we meet." Doc said, walking to the door.

"Good enough for me, let's haul ass, guys." Coach said, getting up and heading for the door. Keith and Nick followed, not wanting to be left behind.


	7. Chapter 7

"Dammit!" Ellis cursed, as the car came to a stop. "Looks like she's outta gas, guys. We're walking, from here on." The others didn't seem too disappointed, but definitely didn't look happy about having to walk in the southern heat.

"I hate walking." Francis said.

"Then you can run ahead, Francis." Louis commented.

"I hate running, too." He replied.

"Don't worry guys, the hospital's not too far from here. I'll lead the way." Ellis said, stepping in front of the others.

They walked for an hour or so, before stopping for a break.

"Ellis, you're damn hospital better be around here somewhere, 'cause I'm not walking much more." Francis said. It was almost polite, for Francis, anyway.

Ellis had sat down next to Zoey, and had his arm around her. He wasn't going to let what Francis and Louis think of them affect their relationship. Or at least, their chances of having a relationship.

"It's okay, Ellis. We'll find it." Zoey said, taking his hand.

"Actually,' Ellis began, as he stood up. "If I remember correctly, the hospital should be just around this corn-" He said as he walked around the corner. Before he could finish his sentence however, a Charger slammed into Ellis, hurling him backwards.

"ELLIS!" Zoey screamed, jumping up and aiming her rifle. Francis and Louis began firing too, but the Charger had already started to pound Ellis into the ground.

"It's bashing me into shit!" Ellis yelled, struggling against the Charger. "Someone, give me a-" His voice was cut. The Charger slammed Ellis' head against the road, and Ellis blacked out.

* * *

"What the hell is that Charger doing? Nick asked, looking out in the distance. There was a Charger that appeared to be pacing, back and forth, in front of a building.

"I don't know. Maybe we should go check it out." Keith suggested.

"Hang on, I want to see what it does." Doc said, squinting his eyes. The four watched it for a while, when they noticed a man come around the corner of the building. The Charger immediately barged into him, and shortly after, they heard the man yell, "It''bashing me into shit!"

"Ellis!" Nick, Coach, and Keith said together, taking off towards their Charged friend. Doc followed, firing his magnum careful, trying not to hit Ellis.

"Someone, give me a-" Ellis started.

Even from the distance, all four could tell when his body went limp, and as it did, the Charger went limp as well, killed by Doc's magnum.

"ELLIS!" Nick, Coach, Keith, and Doc all looked to their left, as Zoey rushed to Ellis.

Doc looked at Ellis, blood was pouring from his back... and from the looks of things, his head.

_His head is split... He's dead, I'm almost sure of it_. Doc thought, but he didn't have the heart to tell the others. They'd find out on their own soon enough.


	8. Chapter 8

_It's been 8 Months.._. Zoey thought. _I should be happy. The zombies have all starved, we survived. We're finally safe._

She was walking down a hospital corridor, only the first floor had been remodeled, the upper floors were still littered with remains of the zombie apocalypse. The hospital was in Pennsylvania- Mercy Hospital.

After Ellis was attacked, the survivors took his body and made their way back to the bridge. They sailed away, to freedom, happiness, and thankfully, to an island untouched by the infection.

Doc was able to save Ellis' life, but he had gone into a deep coma. They managed to keep him alive, even with the little resources they had. Doc had been carrying an amazing amount of medical equipment in his briefcase.

Eventually, the zombies died off, and the survivors moved back to the mainland. They ran into a few other groups of survivors. With the zombies gone, there was no risk to signaling others down.

Zoey, Francis, and Louis wanted to return to Pennsylvania. Nick, Coach, Keith, and Doc accompanied them, not having anything to return to themselves.

Louis went back to work, hoping to begin a better communications service. He began a phone service provider, Peelz Inc.

Francis joined the local police force, he'd always wanted to be a cop. He never really had to do anything, with the local population below 50, he just wanted to be able to honestly say, "It's alright, I'm a cop."

Nick opened a casino in the town. It didn't gain much business, but became a place for the locals to hang out, being one of the only re-furnished indoor buildings in the town. Money didn't flow into Dr. Nick's Casino as much as people flowed in, but he didn't care. He had already stocked up on cash, in case it ever became worth anything again.

Coach re-opened the local Burger Tank, and although 50% of the business was from Coach himself, he enjoyed it, even with the limited menu he could serve.

Keith was the first volunteer firefighter in the town. He found the abandoned fire station, and fixed it up and it was now in working condition. Fires occurred every now and again, and Keith was always prepared. He never took his flame proof jacket off. He found it especially useful when using his oven and microwave.

Doc went to work in Mercy Hospital, along with some surviving nurses that accompanied the group back to Pennsylvania. He produced a large amount of the Green Flu Vaccine, and had all the locals take it, in case the virus were to break out again.

Zoey settled down in the hospital. Doc allowed her to make one of the offices a room for herself, and she rarely left the hospital.

Even after 8 months, Ellis was still in a coma. Doc didn't think he would ever come out of it. He kept him in the hospital, and kept him as healthy as possible, but he was afraid Ellis would never awake.

At first, Nick, Coach, and Francis stopped by fairly often, but as the weeks went on, they eventually stopped coming altogether.

Louis still came by, every now and then, more for Zoey's sake than to visit Ellis. He knew she was taking it hard, and he wanted to be able to help her through it.

Keith still came by fairly often. As close as he was to Ellis, he refused to accept that Ellis may never come out of the coma, and expected Ellis to wake up every time he visited him. Keith would sit in Ellis' room, often with Zoey, and tell stories about all the crazy stuff he used to do with Ellis.

* * *

It went on like that for a few more weeks, the hospital had a few more floors finished, and the people started cleaning up the city, a safe haven for any survivors looking for a new home.

Everyone seemed happy, everyone but Zoey. Even Keith seemed happy, always expecting Ellis to wake up, and always smiling when sharing his stories with her. She sometimes wished that she was back in the south, that she was still fighting the zombies, anything to have Ellis back with her. Even if not, at least she'd have something to shoot at, something to take her mind off him for a few minutes.

She was sitting in Ellis' room, watching him, like she'd done everyday for months...

_Maybe he really is gone. Maybe I'm wasting my time. Maybe I need to move on, do something for the community like everyone else has. Maybe..._

She stopped mid-thought.

_Did his hand just move..?_

_..._

"Ellis?" She whispered, her voice shaking.

...

"Ellis?" She said, slightly louder.

...

"Zoey?" Came the response, in a very, weak, quiet voice.

* * *

This is the end of the story, for now. It's listed as complete. I may, however, write a ninth chapter later. Why? Because I plan on writing a sequel and I may need to add in some stuff to link the two together, but for now, Comatose is complete. I hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear feedback! Reviews are welcome, or you can add me on Steam (ThravRande, I'd love to play some L4D or L4D2 with any of my readers, as well!) or email me at thravrande(at)gmail(dot)com

I want to say thanks to all my readers. I'm not too good at completing stuff I start, especially stories, but you guys made me want to finish, so, I did! I plan on making more comedy-like stories in the future, as well. This one was a bit more serious than I intended, but I think it turned out well. Anyway, thanks to everyone again, and I look forward to writing more for you guys in the future!

-Dr. Thrav

* * *

8-19-2011

PROOFREAD AND EDITED, and it only took 10 months! I fixed a lot of spelling/grammar errors, as well as added a little bit of detail in places I thought needed a bit more. All in all the story is still the same, but if something seems different, its because I added a little detail. I didn't add anything to the story, just detail. Of course, by now you probably know I wrote a ninth chapter, eons ago, and started writing a sequel to this, Nightmares. I don't think I've even thought about updating that one since May... but I'm going to try to finish it now. I may actually change the story so far a bit, too. So check it out sometime! If you find any mistakes, leave them in a review or e-mail me at thravrande(at)gmail(dot)com, and I'll fix them ASAP! Thanks for reading,

-Dr. Thrav


	9. Chapter 9

The following story takes place before Ellis comes out of the coma, soon after Zoey moves into the hospital office.

* * *

_Knock Knock Knock_

"Come in." Zoey yelled, trying to compose herself.

She'd just had a nightmare, about Bill. She had seen him, as a zombie. She'd just woke up, in a cold sweat, and she was still shaking.

"Zoey? Is everything alright?" Doc said, entering the room. "I heard screaming. Is something wrong?" He looked around.

"I... I'm alright, thanks, though." She stuttered, still shaking.

"You don't look alright. Are you sick?" Doc sat down beside her on her bed, and held his hand to her forehead.

"I'm fine." She said. "I had a bad dream, is all."

"Something on your mind? Something you wanna talk about?" Doc looked worried.

_Yes, there is something I want to talk about_. Zoey thought. _Just not to you, I need Ellis, I need to talk to Ellis._

"No. It's alright, really." Zoey stood up. "How's Ellis?"

"...He... He's alive. I really can't tell you much else. He doesn't appear to be getting better, or worse, but, that's to be expected, he's in a coma."

"Right... right..." Zoey turned away from him, and shed a tear.

"I'll... let you get back to sleep. I didn't mean to bother you." Doc said, standing up and walking towards the door.

"Doc," Zoey called after him.

"Yes?" He said, turning back to face her.

"Thanks, for all you've done for us... for me. It really means a lot." Zoey said, giving him a weak smile.

"My pleasure." Doc replied. "Anything I can get you?"

"No, I'm alright, thanks." She said, laying back down.

"Alright, goodnight." Doc said, leaving the office.

* * *

_Later that night..._

"Ellis?" Zoey saw him. He was holding his M16, but he wasn't aiming at anything. He was walking away from her, down an alley.

"Ellis!" She yelled after him. He didn't seem to hear her. Zoey ran after him, down the alley. Ellis reached the end before she caught up with him. She saw the charger run past the end of the alley, taking Ellis with it.

"Shit, ELLIS!" Zoey ran after him, picking up the gun he had dropped when the charger hit him.

"Ellis?" She yelled, looking around. No response came. She couldn't hear anything, not even the dull thud the chargers usually made when they were pounding their victims into the ground.

"He's gone. I've taken him away from you."

Zoey turned around, to see a charger standing behind her... talking?

"Did you just... speak?" Zoey was bewildered.

"Did I? I'm uncertain. I only remember running headfirst into a boy, cracking his skull. Taking him away from his friends, away from the ones who loved him." The charger said to her, with a sneer.

Zoey lifted the M16 and fired the whole clip into the charger, but it didn't seem to bother him.

"What? You want to take what little life I have left in me away? I watched, as my family, my friends became infected. Everything was taken from me. And then I was infected. Even more was taken from me, even when I thought it wasn't possible. I'm a mindless beast, to anyone else. My sole purpose is to kill." By the time the charger had finished talking, Zoey had reloaded and began firing again, tears running down her face. She closed her eyes until she stopped firing. When she opened them, Ellis was standing in front of her, his chest blown open from the many bullets she had just fired.

"...Zoey..." He said in a weak voice, before crashing to the ground.

* * *

Zoey woke up, again in a cold sweat, and crying.

_I can't take much more of this... _She thought. _Will it be like this every night?_

She laid back down, dreading the next thing she would see in a dream...


End file.
